Good afternoon and welcome to my regular South West Surrey update No. 92. As of today, we have a total of 1,659,256 positive cases of COVID-19 with 59,699 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 1,664 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 87 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 474 active cases in Waverley. All data is accurate as of 11am this morning.
Santa really exists Perhaps the best news that we have had all year came yesterday when it was announced that the UK Medicines Regulator (the MHRA) approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for immediate use. This means that as of next week NHS and Care home Staff can start to receive the vaccine with as many as 800,000 doses being given out before the new year. The MHRA is well-regarded as world leader in the regulation of medicine and has done incredibly well to get through the incredibly complex regulatory process before anyone else, leading to some sniffiness from Europeans. It is not the case that we could not have done this without Brexit as we are still operating under EU law during the transition period - but all 27 EU countries have signed up to a collective effort which depends on consensus and if we had joined that we not have been able to act so nimbly. I reckon that makes it one all on the Brexit wars. This vaccine will only be available via the NHS and the UK has enough doses on immediate order (which will come in batches) to inoculate 20 million people, easily covering all the vulnerable groups. We are also expecting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be approved (or denied) by the MHRA shortly. I n congratulated Matt Hancock yesterday who summed things up nicely when he said that it was “a day to remember, frankly in a year to forget”
Who gets it first? NHS staff will get the vaccine first because storage of the jab at freezing temperatures is easiest in hospitals. Some care home staff will be included too. The pecking order is decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). They have advised people should get it in the following order. 1.Residents in a care home for older adults; 2. Everyone aged 80 and over, and frontline health and social care workers; 3. Everyone aged 75 and over; 4. Everyone aged 70 and over, and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable; 5. Everyone aged 65 and over; 6. People aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and death from Covid-19. After that the rest of the population will be given it, so expect restrictions to stay in place for a while.
Speaking of restrictions…yesterday England finished its lockdown and entered back into tiered restrictions. Here in Surrey, we have been placed into Tier 2 or the 'Higher Alert Tier.’ You can find what restrictions are in place here. As standard though you should remain working from home wherever possible, only meet with your household indoors and meet no more than 6 people outdoors. I voted for these changes on Tuesday and even though I was hoping Waverley might be in Tier 3 I took the view that it is only weeks now before the vaccine will be distributed so we should not take any risks. The most contentious issue is the decision to go by county and not by borough - caused because we found in the fist wave that if you excluded parts of counties from higher level infections they just ended up catching up with the more prevalent areas.
The key number to remember for anyone with pandemic-related difficulties remains 0300 200 1008 the Surrey Helpline run by Surrey County Council (Mon-Fri 9 am to 5 pm).
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
Don’t forget those with learning disabilities who already get a tough deal with life expectancy 14 years shorter for men and 18 years shorter for women. In COVID-19 it has been worse, with the chance of dying 2-4 times higher and many finding themselves cut off in supported accommodation which has not had the focus that care homes have. I asked the Health Secretary about this and also talked about it on the Peston show where in a first for me I was treated as a ‘friend’ being asked to comment on all the interviews rather than being grilled in the hot seat myself, much more fun!
WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY
Community Hero Awards. We have received over 40 nominations in just a week for my 2020 Community Hero Awards…great response! This scheme launched in partnership with the Farnham and Haslemere Heralds is our opportunity to thank those who have gone above and beyond in this horrible year. So, if you think someone (or a group) deserves recognition, please nominate them here before December 19th..
Christmas In Haslemere Retailers across the town are offering a raft of special offers to help people create that feeling of Christmas at home whilst offering the safest of shopping environments - you can get special offers in stores and a £50 reward voucher prize draw.
Small Business Saturday This Saturday (December 5th) is small business day across the country, giving us all the opportunity to help our local independent high street stores who have been struggling so badly. So do pop down to your local high street, follow the social distancing rules and do some shopping this weekend. Rumour has it there may even be mince pies and mulled wine in Haslemere.
See my list of local groups working to support vulnerable residents here.
THE ECONOMY AND JOBS
Support for Pubs! The Prime Minister announced on Tuesday an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3 who will miss out on much-needed business during the busy Christmas period. Pubs that predominantly serve alcohol rather than provide food have been asked to make huge sacrifices over the festive season and will be eligible for this one-off grant to help make ends meet. It is relatively small beer (sorry) but better than nothing. You can find out more about the grant here.
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON
More Missing Monoliths? I don’t want to say 2020 could get any stranger, but, it seems more of these monoliths are popping up and then disappearing across the world, this time in Romania. Who knows what it is, but at least we can rule out Aliens.
And finally when I was Foreign Secretary I got to know my Irish counterpart Simon Coveney very well. Watch him reassuring the children of Ireland that Santa will be excluded from the social distancing and quarantining rules to allow him to get in and out of Ireland on Christmas Eve - with a totally straight face.
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